Category: my novel’s progress
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Book Buffet: Reviews of the Latest I’ve Read
For my last blog post of this year, I’d like to give my thoughts on two special novels I read: Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid Literary fiction; historical fiction; romance; music In the 70s, I remember sitting on the bus in elementary school and hearing “Thunder Only Happens When It’s Raining…
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Fridays Findings: My Top Five Reads This Year
Wow. I’ve read so many great books this year. It was hard willowing my top five list down, but here they are. I’ve reprinted my original reviews here. In no particular order, I present my top five favorite reads for 2024: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin literary fiction, friendship fiction Most of us…
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Friday’s Findings: Goals or Systems?
I’ll be honest with you. I did not achieve my writing goals this year. I have no one to blame but myself. Being the end of the year, I thought about how I could do better in the year to come. So, I consulted with my friend, a book called The Atomic Habits. I’ve discussed The Atomic…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 3
For the past year, I’ve been creating a story in my mind. It started with a single scene, but since then I’ve daydreamed of several scenarios in which my story fermented, busted, and grew. And grew some more. If I wasn’t already working on other pieces of fiction, I’d go ahead and give it my…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 1
Let’s talk about some do’s anLet’s talk about some do’s and don’t’s of info-dumping. I try to find ways to include how things work in my sci-fi and fantasy stories, but I’m not always sure I avoid info-dumping. I try to. But it’s an easy trap to fall into, especially as a speculative fiction writer.…
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Some books on writing craft
The following are two completely different books for the writer. One is about a structured process and the other is about organically discovering your creativity. We can benefit from both. Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody I just finished Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel and…
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Friday’s Findings: Imposter Syndrome as a writer
Over the last few years, I’ve encountered the term imposter syndrome, and I’m like, “What is that?” Imposter syndrome is a thought pattern that reoccurs in someone’s mind and tells them they’re not good enough at what they do. For example: “I’m not a good teacher.” “I’m a terrible physician.” “I’m not as good a…
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Friday’s Findings: Five things I’ve learned in five years, part 2
A few weeks ago, I named five things I learned about the writing craft in the last five years, which are things about the actual writing process. As I came up with that list, I serendipitously came up with items that didn’t relate directly to the craft but to the writing life. These would be…
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Friday’s Findings: Every Sentence
“Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.” -Kurt Vonnegut Friday’s Findings My Linktree
Andrew M. Friday 